Li putts doubts behind him with emotional win

Li Haotong's emotional celebrations showed just how much ending a four-year title drought meant to him on Sunday. The 26-year-old leapt around the green in delight after beating Thomas Pieters on the first playoff hole at the BMW International Open in Munich before sinking to his knees with his head in his hands, masking tears of joy.

Afterward, Li explained exactly why the win－his third career victory on the DP World Tour－had elicited such excitement from his usually composed self.

"Ten months ago ... I just literally decided to quit golf. Somehow, where I am now, it's hard to describe," said Li, who finished with a 22-under total. "I had no idea I could win this playoff. Luckily, things happened for me again.

"I never thought that one day I would have a trophy in my hands again. It's a dream come true."

Five years ago, Li burst onto the international scene with a third-place finish at the 2017 British Open. His upward trajectory continued the following year when he bagged his second victory on the DP World Tour, then known as the European Tour, by beating four-time major winner Rory McIlroy at the Dubai Desert Classic.

It seemed Li was destined for even greater feats when he became the first Chinese player to crack the men's top 50 in the world rankings.

However, things didn't quite go according to plan. With his momentum interrupted by the pause in competition caused by the pandemic, Li missed the cut in 13 of his 16 tournament appearances last year. His joint-14th place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October was his only top-60 result of the season. At his lowest position during 2021, he was ranked 542nd in the world.

However, there were signs of recovery early this year as Li managed two top-six outings in February and April. He was in scintillating form last week at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried where he began with a course-record 62 before completing his wire-to-wire triumph on Sunday.

"No one knows how much I have gone through over the last couple of years," said Li.

"Ten months ago I nearly decided to not play golf. I thought I couldn't play golf again. Ten months later, right now, holding a trophy. If someone told me 10 months ago I would win again, I wouldn't believe that.

"I didn't realize I could be that emotional. Maybe just because I never thought golf could be that tough.

"Through a lot of tough times, I realized how good that feeling is to play good again."

Playoff drama

After following up his sensational opening-round 62 with 67s on Friday and Saturday, Li took a three-stroke lead over Pieters into Sunday's final round.

The overnight leader made a dream start with three birdies in his first five holes to extend his advantage to five.

But four bogeys and a solitary birdie in his next 10 holes opened the door for the chasing pack and he was joined at the top of the leaderboard with three to play.

Li, though, made birdies at the 16th and 17th to regain a one-shot lead heading down the last.

But his birdie putt on the 18th green lipped out, and with Pieters safely securing his birdie, the contest had to be decided by a playoff.

The Chinese player approached the first playoff green well, but then a heavy-handed chip left him in trouble after Pieters had successfully come out of a bunker. Li then stunned the enthralled crowd by finding the hole with a monster putt from 50 feet (15 meters) and roared in delight when Pieters was unable to extend the playoff.

"Thomas played great all day. My putter wasn't as hot as yesterday. Golf, this is golf," said Li, reflecting on the dramatic ending. "Sometimes things go your way, sometimes not. I'm just so happy to finish on 18 like that.

"Somehow I thought that I would make that putt (in the playoff ). I don't know how I made that stroke, how the ball went in the hole, because at the end of the day the greens were very bumpy. You just never know."

The win earned Li 340,000 euros (roughly $359,000) in prize money and a spot at next month's British Open at St Andrews in Scotland.

The Munich tournament took place amid the ongoing tension over players signing with the rival Saudi-backed LIV series.

Ten golfers who played the first LIV event were in the Munich field.

Unlike the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour stopped short of issuing indefinite suspensions from all its competitions even if players took part in the inaugural LIV tournament in England earlier this month. However, it did issue fines and suspended them from three tournaments co-sanctioned with the PGA.

Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer of Germany said the DP World Tour's warning of future punishment won't stop him playing in more LIV tournaments.

"I'll play all of the LIV tournaments until the end of the year and let's see how the sanctions look again after that," Kaymer told Germany's dpa agency. "You don't like to get some kind of sanctions each week because you've played a tournament somewhere else."